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Important Upcoming Events 4/28/08 WILLETS POINT INDUSTRY AND REALTY ASSOCIATION GAINS SUPPORT FROM NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS AND SENDS A MESSAGE TO THE BLOOMBERG ADMINISTRATION: “WE’RE GETTING STRONGER AND NOT BACKING DOWN” City Council Letter to Deputy Mayor Lieber (New York, NY) April 28, 2008 – A letter to Deputy Mayor Robert C. Lieber from New York City Council Member Hiram Monserrate along with 28 of his City Council colleagues appears full-page in today’s New York Daily News. The letter denounces the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s certification of the Willets Point redevelopment plan, calling it “deeply flawed” and stating "that without significant modifications we will strongly oppose it, leaving no chance of it moving forward.” The architect of the letter was Council Member Monserrate whose district includes Willets Point.
The letter is signed by 29 of the City Council’s 51 members and states: “We adamantly oppose moving forward with the current redevelopment plan for Willets Point. The plan is deeply flawed and the opportunity for public consideration has been dangerously absent. We disagree with your decision to pursue ULURP certification for this project. As elected officials, we urge you to reconsider this plan and to engage in a more accessible and transparent process.”
In response to the Bloomberg Administration’s behind-the-scenes attempt to pressure Council Members to back down from their opposition to the Willets Point plan, Councilman Monserrate wrote to his Council colleagues in a letter dated April 23, 2008: “As the plan currently stands, the concerns raised are too significant to ignore. This Council has rightfully championed the need to protect workers' rights, ensure fair wages, and affordable housing and the appropriate use of eminent domain. Now more than ever, our institution needs to remain strong and resolute to provide a reasonable counterbalance to this flawed proposal.”
The Council Members who oppose the Willets Point plan are concerned by the decision to pursue the ULURP certification—the re-zoning and condemnation—for this project without community support or the identification of the developer. “The fact that more than half of the Council Members are on our side should be a clear indication to the administration that their plan to strong-arm their way through the City Council and the ULURP process is not going to work,” said Jerry Antonacci, WPIRA Spokesman. Mr. Antonacci noted that the list of opposition is growing. None of the approximately 260 businesses or 150 land owners in Willets Point have been offered a viable option for relocation and point out the EDC’s ongoing attempt to portray them as uncooperative so they can justify the use of eminent domain. Additionally, WPIRA members say that the EDC has been using 4/21/08 29 City Council Members will not approve the City's Redevelopment Plan for Willets Point
City Council Letter to Deputy Mayor Lieber
WILLETS POINT INDUSTRY AND REALTY ASSOCIATION FILES LAWSUIT IN U.S. FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT AGAINST MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG & CITY OF NEW YORK
(New York, NY) April 9, 2008 – The Willets Point Industry and Realty Association (WPIRA), a group of the 10 largest business and land owners in Willets Point, Queens today filed a lawsuit against the City of New York seeking a court order requiring the City to provide basic vital infrastructure including repairs to streets and storm sewers, installation of sanitary sewers, street lights, street signs and other services that the City has withheld for over 40 years. The suit also requests unspecified damages for past neglect. The suit was filed in U.S. Federal District Court, in the Southern District of New York.
The suit is filed against Michael Bloomberg, as Mayor of the City of New York, Emily Lloyd, as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Janette Sadik-Khan as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation and John Doherty as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Sanitation.
At the heart of the complaint is the purposeful refusal of New York City to provide these basic services and an allegation that the City intended to depress property values. This would pave the way for NYC to condemn Willets Point, evicting its businesses and deliver this choice piece of real estate to the hands of private developers. In addition to the lawsuit, members of WPIRA fear this development plan will follow the current trend of stalled or failed developments throughout the City.
The City of New York is proposing to rezone Willets Point, condemn it and evict the existing businesses through the use of eminent domain and replace them with 1.7 million feet of retail space, 500,000 square feet of office space, a hotel, 5,500 residential housing units and a convention center in the neighborhood that is currently zoned for heavy industry. To make this proposal a reality, the City must first acquire the 60 acres of privately owned land at Willets Point. The suit alleges that the City of New York has planned to rezone and redevelop for many years and has been waging a campaign of intentional neglect to create and perpetuate an eyesore for the eventual justification of the use of Eminent Domain.
“The city’s negligent, reckless and willful refusal to provide this infrastructure creates not only an offensive nuisance but it also creates hazards that threaten the health, safety and livelihood of those who work in Willets Point,” said Michael Gerrard, Attorney for WPIRA. The suit claims the City’s failure to address the deplorable conditions of the Willets Point infrastructure has caused extensive and predictable damage to the businesses. This damage includes depressed property values, difficulty recruiting and retaining employees, difficulty obtaining credit, higher interest rates for business loans, diminished business revenues, equipment and property damage, higher delivery costs and business interruption costs. Additionally, the looming threat of Eminent Domain and resulting loss of jobs has taken a toll on morale in all area businesses.
Willets Point employs an estimated 3,000 highly skilled workers in ironworking, construction, solid waste management, sewer parts, auto repair and service, and the manufacture of bakery and food ingredients that includes the largest distributor of Indian foods in the US. Yet the city continues to misrepresent the area as a haven for crime comprised mostly of junkyards and chop shops. The area’s workforce is mostly blue-collar and for almost 80 years has provided a valuable opportunity for local residents to start up their own businesses and live the American dream. Willets Point businesses provide billions of dollars of economic activity and millions of dollars of tax revenue to the City of New York.
The members of
WPIRA believe that the area would be revitalized if the City spent a fraction of
the capital required for redevelopment and invested in infrastructure for the
area. The New York
City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) conducted a study of the area in
1991 that suggested exactly that. “If the City provided the infrastructure and
services that we are entitled to and in fact, are paying for, the area would be
revitalized,” said Dan Feinstein, President of Feinstein Iron Works, Inc., one
of the Plaintiffs. The estimated cost of redeveloping the area is upwards of
three billion dollars. That estimate is expected to skyrocket given the credit
crisis and increasing construction costs. “Our schools and emergency first
responders are facing more budget cuts and the Mayor wants to hand a blank check
of New York City’s hard earned taxpayers dollars to a private developer?” said
Feinstein. That is outrageous, unacceptable and we’re not going to stand for
it.” WPIRA members point out that the project’s price tag is just one of the many obstacles the EDC faces as the City moves forward to prepare to certify the ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure) to rezone Willets Point. The City issued an RFP in November 2004 but has not released results of their environmental impact analysis of the area in question nor has it presented a detailed plan for the redevelopment of the area and/or identified a developer. These usually precede the ULURP process so that the City Council can maintain control over the final outcome. WPIRA charges EDC wants a free hand to negotiate with a developer, unencumbered by the City Council.
Additionally, the Unions want a hand in the eventual development and a guarantee of Union jobs for all the temporary and permanent jobs to be created by the project. Housing Advocates want a commitment on the amount and affordability of housing for the low to middle income families.
“Despite the numerous and obvious obstacles, it appears that the EDC believes it doesn’t have to follow any rules and it can muscle its way through the City Council and the ULURP; and the Union and Housing advocates can be appeased by promises that future administrations will have to fulfill,” said Thomas Mina, Vice President of T. Mina Supply Inc., one of the Plaintiffs. “We have received feedback from City Council members and seen the false statements in the news by the EDC that prove our fear that the EDC is attempting to portray us as uncooperative and “money hungry” so they can justify the use of eminent domain at the end of the ULURP process,” said Mina.
“The EDC is not being truthful with the City Council, the businesses at Willets Point or the public. If the City wanted to deal openly and fairly, they would have released the results of property appraisals that were completed last year by Cushman and Wakefield,” said Anthony Fodera, President of Fodera Foods Inc., one of the Plaintiffs. Not one of the 10 business and land owners of WPIRA have been provided with viable options for relocation of their businesses, despite numerous public statements to the contrary by the EDC and Queens Borough President Helen M. Marshall.
The WPIRA points out the EDC’s abysmal track record of completing re-development projects and abusive threats of Eminent Domain. “The EDC has yet to prove that it can coordinate between the community and developers to bring a project to successful completion,” said Anthony Fodera. “Just look at Municipal Lot 1 project in Flushing, Queens. That project has been stalled for years due to the developer’s inability to fulfill the community benefits package it once promised. Why should we think the EDC can do any better in Willets Point?”
The Willets Point Industry and Realty Association (WPIRA) The Willets Point Industry and Realty Association (WPIRA) is dedicated to the development, improvement and growth of the Willets Point area by the businesses that reside there, and not by development schemes in which eminent domain is used to forcibly evict and raze those businesses. A. Fodera & Son, Inc., Bono Sawdust Supply Co., Inc., Crown Container Co., Inc., Feinstein Iron Works, Inc., House of Spices (India), Inc., Parts Authority, Inc., QC Iron Works Inc., Sambucci Bros. Inc, T. Mina Supply, Inc., Tully Environmental, Inc., Tully Construction Co., Inc. www.WPIRA.com
Contact: Patricia Jones 718-651-7187
willetspoint@gmail.com
Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Time: 11:00 am
Location: City Hall Steps
Contact: Shauna Alami Williams (914) 438-6689
Patricia Jones (347) 306-2442
The Willets Point Industry and Realty Association (WPIRA) The Willets Point Industry and Realty Association (WPIRA) is dedicated to the development, improvement and growth of the Willets Point area by the businesses that reside there, and not by development schemes in which eminent domain is used to forcibly evict and raze those businesses. A. Fodera & Son, Inc., Bono Sawdust Supply Co., Inc., Crown Container Co., Inc., Feinstein Iron Works, Inc., House of Spices (India), Inc., Parts Authority, Inc., QC Iron Works Inc., Sambucci Bros. Inc, T. Mina Supply, Inc., Tully Environmental, Inc., Tully Construction Co., Inc. www.WPIRA.com
November 29th, 2007 What - Public Hearing with Land Use and Zoning relating to the issues in Willets Point and the EDC's Redevelopment Plan Purpose - To allow the key members of the City Council Committees to to ask questions of the EDC and to hear testimony from the public regarding the Redevelopment Plan When & Where - November 29th, 2007 commencing at 1:00PM City Hall -
May 1, 2007 What - Draft Environmental Impact Scoping Session Purpose - To determine what impacts the proposed zoning changes will have on the area and propose how to study them. When & Where May 1, 2007 3:00 - 5:00 5:30 - 7:30 Flushing Public Library 47-14 Main Street Flushing, NY NYC is holding the first Public Meeting to start the process of condemnation of the Willets Point Area.
It is important to attend and make your voice heard!
Buses will be leaving from Sambucci Bros. 126th & 36th Avenue starting at 4PM. We will be distributing shirts and signs at the bus stop.
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dscully@wpira.com
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